Tales from the Members’ Bar

No.3 Mark Easter

I suspect it would be the very rarest of regular imbibers at the trough of COYSDC that would be oblivious of Mark Easter’s former connection with Nottingham RFC. It came as no surprise that he should be nominated to talk with the representatives of the local media at this week’s briefing session.

Mark’s involvement with the green and whites stems from his time at university in the city. He played at the club for two years and made enough of an impression to be recommended to Northampton Saints by the coaches there. He went straight into the Academy.

It was not bad business for Nottingham as, the next season, Mark benefited from game time with his old club in NL1 under the sort of loan/dual registration scheme that seems all the rage these days. He still played in a fair few Wanderers matches and made six Guinness Premiership appearances in the 2005-6 season.

A losing debut may not have been the most auspicious of starts but a try to clinch a tight one against Gloucester and the deciding score in the “Take My Breath Away”/Keira Knightly in her nightie (© Rob Richmond) match against Bath announced him as a young man with presence and knowledge of how to get over the whitewash.

Mark comes from that part of south London just as it is giving way to Surrey. At school at Dulwich College he somehow managed to escape the attentions of the England age-group selectors and it was not until his university days that a career in professional rugby seemed a possibility. His arrival at Saints coincided with that of the four young men from Worcester which included direct competition for places in the shape of Mark Hopley. He says he sees Hoppers as a team-mate rather than a rival but I thought, yeah, he would say that, would he not.

That competition for places and the knowledge that somebody is always ready to take the starting jersey is something of which Mark is keenly aware. He has not set himself any long term goals - yes, he would like to follow his brother into the international set-up but there are more pressing things at hand. He needs to keep his standards up and performances, too. He wants to play first team rugby for this club. Nobody is talking about promotion but he wants a crack at the Premiership. I am pretty sure that if that comes to pass, he will be keenly interested in two fixtures in particular. Last year he only played five minutes down at The Stoop and in the previous season he had not had much of an effect as the Harlequin steamroller flattened him and everything else at Ireland Avenue. It is about time he turned the tables on his elder brother.

In the all-important matter of the Movember Moustache, Marks’ is coming along nicely. He asked me to point out that the reason that the squad is doing this is to raise awareness of prostate cancer. Have a look at the top of our message board and see what you can do to help.

In the other burning question of the week? Jaffa Cakes. An excellent source of instant energy when your glycogen levels are in danger of running low. A thoroughly professional answer. Now I am waiting for someone to say malted fruit loaf and we will have the outline picture of a thoroughly professional group of young men.

arw

16.11.2007

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